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Article Title: BIPOLAR: SCOTT STERNBACH AT THE EARTH’S EXTREMES

Article Link: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/photobooth/2011/12/scott-sternbach.html


          The ambition drive of human beings has forced us to go the extreme and explore the earth's pole. In this article, photographer Scott Sternbach journeys to the south pole to bring back pictures of the developments due to human involvement with respect to oil exploration and mineral mining. In essence, Sternbach utlizes this article as a means to comment on the effects of the natural as well as human-driven effects that have ensued in the region, to both the people as well as nature.

          One of the most significant literary techniques used by Sternbach is imagery, where the article explicitly includes a photo gallery that highlights some of the conditions that the indigenous populations live in, in addition to the human developments due to external involvement. Some of the pictures, especially that of a lone girl and another of a family with a small child, evoke sympathy in the reader to convey the negative manifestations of the worldly involvement in the region in the name of research. In addition, diction is also included in the writing to illustrate the motive for Sternbach's journey. The two words that stand out in the second paragraph are "consideration" and "balance", both alluding to a sense of harmony that is essential for paying deference to all groups and communities in this world equally. Last but not the least, certain details are used in the piece, such as how "thirty-odd researchers, biologists, cooks, pilots, and boat captains [who] [were] involved in a federal project to study the effects of global warming on the region", demonstrating the magnitude of involvement and interest that the "civilized" part of the world was taking to further global understanding while at the same time overlooking the significance of change for the indigenous populations.


          Overall, Sterbach's purpose in journeying to the south pole was to experience the lives lived by the native populations, experiencing pressure under the man-made negative effects through oil exploration and mineral mining that diminish their livelihood along with the detrimental effects of global warming. Through the course of the piece, the literary pieces of evidence show how the priorities of the world in comparison with the livelihood of the indigenous population conflict. The importance of balance in nature is overlooked for the sake of increased scientific understanding and satisfying the world's needs for economic stability. In the end, the motive behind Sterbach's efforts is the sustenance of the indigenous populations along with their land in order to preserve their identity, their livelihood, and eventually their posterity.